


Rise and Fall of a Pathfinder

by natsora



Series: Trials of Ryder [3]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Gen, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Major character death - Freeform, Slight Canon Divergence, Whump, canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:20:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24287272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsora/pseuds/natsora
Summary: Andromeda, Heleus Cluster, Eriksson System, Habitat 7.This is the site of his crowning achievement and his grave. He doesn’t know it when he makes landfall, but every single step, every single second is leading to the end — his end.Life and death hangs in the balance, and everything will end in a matter of minutes. Alec must choose as he comes to terms with his failures as a father.This single act may be his best, and worst, gift to his daughter.For more context, readChasing the Daylight.
Relationships: Alec Ryder & Female Ryder | Sara
Series: Trials of Ryder [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/792867
Comments: 20
Kudos: 23





	1. Time

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve not considered writing this side of the story until I saw [this post on Tumblr](https://mass-effect-anonymous.tumblr.com/post/176522126277/confession-if-i-had-even-an-ounce-of-writing) and went “I can write this”. So here it is, I hope you enjoy. It’s basically an excuse to whump and angst poor Sara. 

_No._

Alec forced himself on, pain spiking up his thigh. His armour had tightened, keeping the bone from displacing further. It hurt, but it wasn’t completely impossible to move. A broken bone wasn’t what scared him and set his pulse skyrocketing, it was the desperate gasps coming through the comms. 

_Sara._

“We need an emergency evac,” he shouted, checking Sara’s location from his omni-tool. 

“Thank the goddess, you’re ok,” Harper’s voice came through. “We read a massive energy spike at your location.”

Alec panted and staggered forwards. Sara’s signal was getting stronger, her vitals started syncing up to his suit. Waves and numbers were thrown on his HUD. They were helpfully labelled in increasingly alarming red colours. 

“SAM,” he called urgently. “Is my medical suite damaged?”

“Yes, bypassing the medical suite on your suit,” SAM replied. “Administering medi-gel.”

A sharp prick stabbed his thigh and instantly military grade medi-gel flooding his body, dialling down the spike of pain down to a manageable dull throb. 

“What about Sara’s,” he hissed as he laboured on. 

Before SAM could reply, he could make out a figure just before him, down on all fours, panting, gasping. _Sara._ She had one hand clawing at her throat. 

“Pulse and blood pressure elevated, respiratory rate failing,” SAM reported. 

Alec didn’t need SAM’s report to know what the problem was. Her visor had shattered, her eyes were wide and wild as she sought his. 

“Help.” 

A single word, uttered with the last wisps of her breath, laced with a despair he didn’t thought possible. It brought back everything. Regret, guilt and remorse. Sara was suffocating. He was going to lose his daughter. There was no time to apologise, to make amends. 

Alec Ryder refused to let his daughter die. He had been a failure of a father, he saw that now. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, failed her in this. Sara must survive. 

“Repeat, we need an emergency extraction now!” he shouted into his comms. 

“They are spinning up the shuttle, ETA three, maybe four minutes.”

His jaw tightened. He stared into Sara’s pain glazed eyes. “We don’t have that long.”

* * *

“Alec,” a voice called out. He didn’t recognise it. “Can you hear me?”

Alec fought to peel his eyes open. His first attempt let in light so bright it seared his retinas. He groaned. A hand touched his shoulder and soothed, “Take it easy, waking up from cryo is a slow process. Let your eyes adjust.”

He grunted and opened his eyes again, no mere light was going to keep him down. Hissing but blinking rapidly to counter the light, he tried again. It took a while, but his blurry vision started to resolve itself into a familiar asari standing before him. 

“Dr. T’Perro,” he rasped. His tongue must have been stuck to the roof of his mouth for the past 600 years. Pushing himself upright, he swung his legs over the side of his pod. The panel already removed, facilitating an easier dismount. He braced himself against the edge.

“Here,” she handed him a bottle of water, its cap already twisted off. “Welcome to Andromeda.”

Orange light swept over him as he drank. Blissfully cool and refreshing water coating the inside of his throat. He clenched and unclenched his hands, flexed his arms and legs. Everything felt good, a little stiff, but his muscles hadn’t atrophied through the long journey. The pod had made sure of it. 

“How does it look, doctor?” Alec glanced about the room. The recovery bay was empty. He must have been one of the first few woken up from cryo. 

Here they were. 600 light year, that was how long this took. Uprooting his entire family from everything they knew, to come to a new galaxy for a fresh start. Andromeda would be the stage for that. A brand new career, an opportunity to work on a cure for AEND, a chance to keep his family safe and near. 

Scott had nothing left for him in the Alliance after news of Alec’s research and development of an AI came to light. It wasn’t his intention to destroy his son’s career, but it was inevitable given the Milky Way’s view on AI research. He had no intention to lose Ellen to AEND just because nobody wanted to look into having an AI manage her condition.

Sara… Just thinking about his daughter brought up conflicting emotions. An odd mix of pride at her accomplishments with the Alliance, guilt that soured his tongue, an old resentment that refused to go away. Alec sighed and scrubbed his face. Sara wasn’t entirely willing to come, she came because Scott did. She gave up a flourishing career, despite carrying the taint of his last name, under Shepard. He still had contacts within the Alliance. From all that he heard it was clear Shepard had taken a shine on his daughter. Under her wing, Sara would have weathered the storm developing SAM had created. 

But… Alec shook his head. No. It was better this way. The Milky Way was compromised. Far better she lose a career than be dead. 

And then, there was Ellen. A flare of pain spiked in his chest. T’Perro’s eyes glanced up from her omni-tool. It must have registered in his vital signs. He breathed, fighting keep his face passive. Ellen would be pissed, but she’d be alive. That was what mattered the most. His family would be here and they would all be alive. Nothing else mattered. As long as they were together, he could fix everything again. He had time. 

“Everything looks good,” T’Perro said. “Let’s check your connection with SAM.”

He peeled the electrodes from his arms, chest and legs before pulling on the Initiative hoodie placed nearby for him. It was a little chilly to sit around only in his underwear. 

“SAM?” T’Perro called out.

There was a slight tingle at the back of Alec’s skull before SAM reported, “The connection is strong. Hello Alec.”

SAM, it could be said that he was his third child, one he had created, built, developed and nurtured. He had spent so much time holed up in his office working on SAM, working _with_ SAM. A familiar sour taste filled his mouth — guilt. He had spent more time with SAM than his actual human children, or even Ellen, but it was all for the better good. With SAM, Ellen wouldn’t had needed to suffer, but he ran out of time. Ellen had been stubborn about taking the meds. Damn the side effects. It would have given him more time to get SAM ready. It all almost went down the drain he hadn’t been able to pull some strings, bribe some people to get Ellen smuggled on board the Hyperion as Elisabeth Riley. This was all for her sake, she’ll see. Alec packed the guilt away to the back of his mind. He did the right thing, but somehow that sour taste refused to fade. 

He had time, he repeated to himself. There was no looming death threat over all their heads here in Andromeda. He could make things right here. That was what a fresh start meant. 

“Hello SAM,” Alec greeted and stood, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. He needed to get into armour and soon. It’d not do nobody any good to see the Pathfinder walking about like this. “Prioritise the Pathfinder team. I want them all to be up in an hour.” 

T’Perro nodded. 

Carlyle said, “Understood, Pathfinder.” He was pulling a fresh pod out from the Cryo bay. 

Alec wandered over out of curiosity as Carlyle docked the pod. Glacing at it, he saw the vitals were displayed right on the outside panel. Everything were in the green. 

“Who is this?”

“Your daughter,” Carlyle replied. “You might want to stick around while we bring Sara around. It helps.”

He hesitated. Sara wouldn’t exactly be happy that he was the first person she saw, but she was his daughter and subordinate. Carlyle popped the top panel and it hissed. Cold air came pouring out. 

Sara was still asleep. Her face smooth and unmarred by the stress of combat, grief of her mother’s death and the strange mix of anger, defiance and yearning she always looked at him with. T’Perro administered the drug into the IV to begin the process of waking her up. 

“It will take a while for the drug to work,” she said as Carlyle headed off to help with another pod. 

T’Perro stepped back. Alec took a deep breath before approaching. Sara was twitching, small minute movements of her fingers while her eyes rolled around behind closed eyelids. It looked almost like she was having a nightmare. 

He remembered Sara as the five year old screaming herself awake. Tiny fingers scrambling for someone to hold her as she shivered and babbled about the same recurring nightmare, the one where her mother lay still in a pool of her own blood. He was the one who held her as she sobbed, he was the one who told her everything would be fine, that her mother was alive because of her quick thinking. How did their relationship became this fraught? 

An instinctual need seized him and he reached out. His fingers brushed against her bare shoulder and squeezed it. It instantly calmed her. Sara exhaled as her eyes started fluttering open. He stepped away as T’Perro swept in to wake Sara. Flexing his hand, he tried to rid himself of the tingle running across his hand. Without a backwards glance, he didn’t turned on his heels and strode out. 

The mission came first. Everything else could wait. They had time. 

* * *

Gravity cut out suddenly, leaving Alec and everything in his room floating. His training took over. Fast fingers danced across his omni-tool interface as he called Dunn. 

“What’s going on?” he growled over comms.

“We hit some kind of energy cloud,” Dunn’s voice came through, her voice tight and curt. 

He nodded. The Initiative had chose well with Dunn. She’s unflappable and took no shit, not from him or anyone else when it came to the safety of the Ark and its 20,000 sleepers. 

“You better come up and see this yourself. Our sensors were picking up some strange readings before they were knocked offline.”

“Understood, heading to the Command Bridge,” Alec said. 

He found handholds on the furniture bolted to the floor. Using them, he pulled himself back to the terminal and found the system access he needed. With a jab of the finger, gravity returned. He slammed chest first onto the floor. Pressing a hand against his sternum, he stood, glad that he had already put on his armour. 

“SAM, what’s the status of the Ark?”

“Gravity is out at Cryo and Engineering,” SAM reported. 

He grimaced. Getting gravity restored would be key. “SAM, what’s the status on the Pathfinder team?”

“Lieutenant Cora Harper has been cleared. Specialist Sara Ryder and Liam Kosta are still being processed by the medical staff.”

He grunted and strode out the door. Staff were rushing about trying to ascertain the myriad of problems the energy cloud had caused and set about fixing them. He had every confidence in the crew of the Hyperion. They were trained and well motivated. This was but the first baby steps in a brand new cluster. 

“Harper!” he shouted as he spotted his second. 

“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant jogged over. Her blue eyes piercing and sharp as they met his. She was a powerful biotic, one that had trained with asari commandos and was a huntress herself. 

“Cryo and Engineering’s gravity is offline. You take Cryo, I’ll take Engineering.”

“Understood,” Harper acknowledged and navigated her way through the crowd. 

Alec watched Harper’s disappearing back for a moment. The sour taste filled his mouth again. False pretences was what got Harper on board the Initiative. She was an invaluable part of his team. With luck, he’d be able to give Harper her own team and she’d never find out about the truth about the SAM implant. It was a necessary evil, one that didn’t truly hurt anyone if things went as he planned. There was time to smooth things over now that they were in Andromeda. 

* * *

Alec stared out of the wide windows installed over the Command Bridge. His hand clenched and unclenched on its own accord. Inside the Hyperion, he imagined he could hear the crackle of electricity as orange glow rippled across the energy cloud before his eyes. It was wide and vast, stretching as far as the eye could see, a blanket covering and obscuring their path forward. 

Dunn was fighting fire behind him, bellowing orders and demanding status reports. Harper was still working her way towards Cryo, hopefully she’d get gravity restored soon. Alec yanked his attention from the strange scene to face Dunn. 

“We should still maintain course for Habitat Seven.”

“Are you out of your mind, Ryder?” Dunn snapped. “We have to get our systems back up and running before we rush headlong into any further situations.”

He stiffened. Habitat Seven was out there. New Earth, a fresh start for him, for Ellen and the kids. And the sleepers. 

“I know you want to start exploring, we need to—”

One of Dunn’s ensign spoke up. “Captain, gravity to Cryo has been restored.”

Alec nodded. No doubt it was Harper. He was determined to get the team down to Habitat Seven. Once the initial outpost had been set up, he could resumed work on an implant that was going to manage Ellen’s condition and with SAM they could work towards a cure. One way or another, he was determined to make sure things returned to the way they should. 

His omni-tool buzzed. It was a call from Carlyle. “Alec, I’ve got some bad news.”

Alec’s pulse quickened. _Ellen._

Was Carlyle going to tell him that they had lost her pod? Nobody knew she was on board, he kept the truth from the records. There was no way the Initiative would allow Ellen to come, wife or no. She had made it clear she wasn’t willing to go into cryo early to save herself. As much as he hated watching his children grieve, to shed tears over their mother who wasn’t truly dead, this was the only way he could manage to get her on board. The effort, the tears, the anger would all be worthwhile once they finally see what he had been trying to do. They’d understand, and they could be reunited as a family. He had time to make amends. 

“It’s Scott.”

Relief warred with fear. His throat seized up. “What about Scott? Isn’t he out of cryo?”

“No, the power outage disrupted the process. To force him to wake now would damage his brain. We feel it’s better to put him into a low level coma and allow his brain to come around naturally.”

Bitterness curled over his tongue. He exhaled, his breath forced its way out through his nose, but the facade he had cultivated over his successful career as an N7 held. Shoving his emotions to the side was how he lived. “Understood, do what you think is best,” he said. “What about Sara? Is she okay?”

Voices rose behind Carlyle, he muttered something the mic couldn’t pick up and turned back to Alec. “Yes, she is fine. Took a bit of a fall from when the gravity came back, but she’s otherwise fine.”

“Good,” his voice clipped and curt, possessing no hint of concern. Andromeda seemed hellbent on making things difficult for him, but the way forward was clear. Terra Firma, the rest would follow. One step at a time. “Thanks for letting me know. Keep me updated?”

“Will do, Alec.” 

Dunn had overheard everything, but she didn’t offer platitudes. They had bigger problems to tackle. Scott Ryder, in the grand scheme of things was merely a drop in the bucket. She nodded and turned back to her work. It was best the rest of the team got suited up sooner rather than later. They’d be making landfall one way or another. 

Tapping on his omni-tool, he spoke, knowing his voice would be pipped directly to the Cryo bay, “This is the Pathfinder, mission team continue preparation. Cora, Sara, report to the Bridge.”


	2. Scott

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec unlatched the safety buckles of his helmet. Air, precious air, hissed as they disengaged. With a quick twist, he lifted it from his head. 
> 
> “Please Alec, do not do this,” SAM said, his voice impassive despite the gravity of the situation.
> 
> Alec didn’t speak. They could hold am entire conversation via their private channel. SAM could read his subvocals and stimulate his inner ear, actual speech was unnecessary and needlessly wasteful at this point. 
> 
> He secured the helmet over Sara’s head, her broken one long discarded. Her eyes widened, hands feebly pushing it away as she shook her head. “What are you doing?” she gasped through laboured breaths, her eyelids already fluttering shut even as she fought her body’s defence mechanism. 
> 
> Habitat Seven’s atmosphere was largely made up of argon-nitrogen. Breathing it in displaced oxygen humans so dearly needed to survive. Sara was slowly suffocating with every breath she tried to take.

Alec unlatched the safety buckles of his helmet. Air, precious air, hissed as they disengaged. With a quick twist, he lifted it from his head. 

“Please Alec, do not do this,” SAM said, his voice impassive despite the gravity of the situation.

Alec didn’t speak. They could hold am entire conversation via their private channel. SAM could read his subvocals and stimulate his inner ear, actual speech was unnecessary and needlessly wasteful at this point. 

He secured the helmet over Sara’s head, her broken one long discarded. Her eyes widened, hands feebly pushing it away as she shook her head. “What are you doing?” she gasped through laboured breaths, her eyelids already fluttering shut even as she fought her body’s defence mechanism. 

Habitat Seven’s atmosphere was largely made up of argon-nitrogen. Breathing it in displaced oxygen humans so dearly needed to survive. Sara was slowly suffocating with every breath she tried to take.

“Deep breathes,” he forced out, doing his best to hold his breath. 

They could do this. All they had to do was to pass his helmet back and forth between them. Nobody else needed to die today, not on his watch. 

Sara breathed, taking in much needed oxygen, filling her lungs. Alec monitored her vitals. They weren’t stabilising. Her pulse and blood pressure remained alarmingly high.

“SAM.”

“One moment, accessing Sara Ryder’s suit monitors.”

He waited, half listening to Harper scrambling their remaining shuttle, the other to Sara’s desperate choking breaths. 

“SAM!”

“Sara Ryder’s fourth rib is broken and has punctured her lung.”

A wave of cold shock ran over him. For an instant, Alec was thrown back to the past. Seeing his daughter, all of five years old again, crying and shaking from a recurring nightmare. But she wasn’t five, this was reality. She could die. 

“Her suit is compromised when she was thrown out of the shuttle when it broke into two pieces upon entry,” SAM went on. 

Of course. And now with the fall off the cliff, the suit had fail. Alec’s jaw tightened. “Can you do anything?” he asked, his lungs burnt. Spots gathered around the edges of his vision. Extended breath hold was part of N7 training but of everything he was taught, this wasn’t one he had kept up with. 

“Not without direct control over her physiology via the implant,” SAM replied. “That is only—”

“Available to the Pathfinder,” Alec finished the thought. 

Clumsy fingers scratched at the helmet latches even with her waning awareness, she was still trying to give the helmet back to him, but her fingers kept slipping. 

They were supposed to have time. _He_ was supposed to have time, but he was staring at the end now. Sara or himself, he had to choose. With a punctured lung, she needed all the respiratory aid she could get. Harper was still three long minutes away, but at the rate Sara’s vitals were falling, it was time they did not have. Without the helmet or SAM to manipulate her physiology, she was going to die. 

Lifting his finger, the screen to initiate the transfer of Pathfinder authority glowed in his face, he hesitated. Sara grabbed at his arm as she shook her head. “What are you…” Her words were swallowed up by a rough and wet cough. Blood flecked against the interior of the helmet. 

Alec flinched. His fingers danced across the omni-tool’s interface. 

_A father shouldn’t bury his child._

“Alec, you cannot do this,” SAM warned. “To initiate the transfer now, in these conditions, it may kill her.”

His index finger hovered the blinking red “confirm” box on his omni-tool. It filled his eyes. A single tap of his finger and it would seal both their fates. 

_I will not bury my daughter._

“I’ve failed Sara in so many ways but I won’t fail this one. She deserves better than I had given her.”

He slammed his finger down. 

“Initiating transfer,” SAM intoned. 

* * *

Alec directed his gaze at Dunn. The Ark had mostly been stabilised. “What’s our position?” he asked. 

Dunn exhaled, frustration mounting as she eyed him. “Telemetry is still offline, my sensor array has completely been disrupted by the energy cloud.”

The door behind him hissed open. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed Harper entering with Sara right behind her. A blue trail of light danced between Sara’s fingers as she was talking to Harper. She snuffed it out instantly the moment she felt his eyes on her. 

A familiar old anger rose at the sight of Sara’s biotics. It was near instinctual at this point, a dear friend he held close. It justified his actions, his way of disciplining his children, Sara in particular. An uncontrolled biotic, she would never be. He made sure of it. For all of his faults as a parent, he had done that right at least. 

“SAM.” A single word and the AI understood what he needed. 

“One moment, Alec,” SAM replied. “Re-calibrating the sensors.”

The murmurs of conversation rose as the system hummed to life. “Sir,” Harper greeted as they approached. Sara’s shoulders were stiff, a tension stretched across them as if she was waiting to be reprimanded. He ignored them, turning his attention to Dunn. “The protocol is clear. We head for solid ground.”

“The Hyperion is failing. We have 20,000 people, their safety come first.”

“The Captain does outrank the Pathfinder on matters of the Ark,” Sara pointed out, a low whisper directed at Harper. 

Alec folded his arms across his chest, ready to quote processes and procedures that had been laid down by Garson but he faced his daughter. Familiar brown eyes met his. _She looks so much like Ellen._ Ab odd mix of defiance and yearning danced in her eyes. Pride filled his chest even as irritation rose in equal measure. Nobody pushed back against him, not even Scott. 

His son wasn’t spineless, he had his own mind and all the privileges of being a Ryder could afford him, but Scott walked the path laid down for him. Alec loved him for that. Scott was a strong shoulder to have by his side. 

Sara was different. 

She was tempered by her trials through her Alliance career. It gave her a steel that Scott lacked. Being mentored by the infernal Shepard had only made things worse. 

Irrational as it was, his old anger wouldn’t dissipate despite the years in between. Far better to hold Sara at a distance than risk sundering his family. Though conflicted, a strange sensation tickled the back of his mind as Sara set her jaw at him. It was a heat that warmed, not scoured. 

_Pride._

He blinked. It couldn’t be. Pride was never for subordinates that glared so defiantly at him. 

“This isn’t about having the final word,” he interjected, his words clipped. 

“Yes, sir,” Cora replied, looking somewhat admonished. 

His eyes cut to Sara’s. Her brown eyes mirrored his. The old rhetoric surfaced. It wasn’t Sara’s fault she was a biotic, benefitting from the very thing that was killing her mother. It was true, but the truth was never got in the way of irrational anger. 

His gaze hardened. The fire in Sara’s gaze banked. One mere look from him extinguished them. Behind the defiance laid the little girl, all of five years old, just asking him to keep the nightmares away. 

If he wasn’t already looking at Sara, he wouldn’t have seen her flinch. Pain was quickly hidden away with such practise. All that was left was the good little soldier he had trained, the Alliance had forged and Shepard had honed. His breath hitched. In that moment, he realised how alike they were. This was no time for sentiment. He looked away. Their mission was clear, his more so. 

Gasps filled the Command Bridge. Beyond the crackling strands of the energy cloud, Habitat Seven hung against a sea of greys and blues. That orb of green and white held all their hopes and dreams. Coming to Andromeda was a one way trip. They had to make it work. 

Alec drew himself up and gestured. “That’s Habitat Seven, new Earth if we’re lucky.”

Sara’s eyes narrowed, doubts clouded them.

“We’re marooned at sea with 20,000 souls along for the ride, we need to know if that’s safe harbour.”

Dunn squeezed the bridge of her nose. Alec knew he had her. There was no way through but forward. “All right just make it quick,” she said before turning her attention back to her duties. 

“Harper, gather the team. We’re taking two shuttles down.”

Orders issued, Harper turned to carry them out. Sara lingered, for what he couldn’t say, but he brushed past his daughter and walked out, tasting sour on his tongue with every step he took. 

* * *

“How is he?” Alec stood in front of Scott’s pod. The panel over his face was clear. He looked serene as if he had just laid down for a nap and had overslept. 

T’Perro glanced at the readout on her omni-tool. “His vitals are strong, but the disruption has affected his brain waves.”

“What does that actually mean?” He pressed a hand over the panel, imagining he could have cupped Scott’s face, or tousle his hair. The panel was cold to the touch, an effect of the lowered temperature inside. It stung his palm.

“It means we have no idea when his brain waves would stabilise. It means we don’t know when he would wake,” T’Perro explained. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, shifting his hand away. His palm print disappeared as the condensation went away. “It is just bad luck then.”

“Scott is strong and he is in good hands. He’d pull through.” T’Perro said. “We’ll move him out of the pod as soon as we get the rest of the first wave out of cryo.” Her hand reached and patted his arm. “We will watch him, Alec.”

His eyes met hers and nodded. Grateful for her assurances and confident in Scott’s care, but it didn’t do anything to ease the anxiety nestled against his chest. A father would always worry. 

* * *

Striding into the hanger, Alec found the rest already prepped and loading supplies into the shuttles. He counted heads. Two were missing, namely Harper and Sara. Exhaling, he forced the annoyance away. Calling up the scans Dunn had managed to get him, he looked at the data. With an argon-nitrogen heavy atmosphere, rebreather helmets would be vital. His jaw tightened. It looked really different from the scans they had seen back in the Milky Way. 

Where was the golden world they were promised? 

Frustration was mounted against his chest. His timeline would have to be revised. Ellen had to wait a little longer before he could get her out of cryo, before SAM could be re-routed to work on ab implant to manage her condition, before they could work on a cure. There was still hope. He had time. 

Alec was realistic. It might take months, maybe even a year or two, but with time and effort, a cure was well within reach. Golden world or no, he wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way. 

It was after he had picked out the likeliest landing zones, Sara and Harper arrived and started lending the others a hand. Clearing his throat, everyone looked at him expectantly. He delivered a rousing speech like he was expected to. Confidence and faith was all he saw in his team. It was a giddy feeling. 

Taking on the Pathfinder job was the easiest decision he ever had to make. If the Milky Way would persecute him and his research, taking it to an entirely new galaxy made the most sense. 

Trying to convince Ellen turned out to be an utter failure. She refused to see reason, choosing to throw away a real and solid chance for a cure. He understood, Ellen was tired. The endless in and out of the hospital and living her life between ever-shortening periods of lucidity had worn her down. But Sara should have known better. She should have taken his side, but she backed her mother instead. Why couldn't they both just see it his way?

Alec’s eyes met his daughter’s as the speech ended. There was apprehension and worry in them. She hesitated before approaching him. “Scott is—.”

“I know,” he cut her off abruptly. 

She nodded and turned away. Her mission was done, and there was no need to be around him any longer. 

The sour taste flared across his tongue, forcing him to say something. “Scott will be fine,” he blurted. His words of comfort sounded awkward and perfunctory even to his ears. “He is strong.” 

Sara stopped, half turning towards him, arms stiff by her side.

If she was just any other soldier under his command, he’d clap his hand against her shoulder and let her know he would be available to talk if she needed it, or offer her the chance to stay behind and be there for her brother. But she wasn’t just anyone, Sara Ryder was his daughter. There was no changing that fact. 

“Travelling 600 years and he overslept.

She was trying again. A light lit within her eyes, a chuckle forced its way through her lips, a feeble attempt to keep things lighthearted. It was a small tentative gesture in his direction, a hope to build something between them, but his eyes caught sight of the patch on her arm. The one that designated her as a biotic and it ignited the old anger again even as his tongue curled from the sour taste filling his mouth.

He pulled his hands behind his back. “Regardless the mission comes first,” he said. “Though your mother will not see it that way.” 

Disappointment and bitterness stood in Sara’s eyes. Tension mounted for a split second as her lips twisted. He expected a sharp retort about his absence before Ellen’s death, or how he didn’t mourn. None of it made it out her mouth, she turned and made a beeline towards Carlyle to help him with the medical supplies. Alec watched, her gait sharp, the set on her shoulders stiff. Grief was still a raw wound across Sara’s heart. If only he could tell her the truth, it would have made things so much easier. 

With the way Andromeda was shaping out to be, it was far better to allow Sara to resent him for now. She would come around eventually, he could make things right between them. He must, even if it was to rid himself of the sour taste of guilt.

Drawing himself to his full height, Alec boarded Shuttle One with Harper, while Sara got on Shuttle Two with Kosta. “People, we have only one chance at being first, let’s go make history.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on my [Tumblr](https://natsora.tumblr.com/). Kudos and comments are always welcome!


	3. Crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec watched on helplessly. SAM was out of reach once he had started the transfer. All he could do was wait . Staring at Sara’s vitals displayed in his HUD didn’t reassure him one bit. Her pulse remained elevated, her respiration still failing, brain activity erratic. That had been merely worrying until Sara started convulsing. 
> 
> Her muscles corded and tightened to a painful degree. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as the blood that coated the inside of her helmet stained her face. 
> 
> Something in his chest twisted. It went beyond the ache in his lungs from the breath he was holding in. A million tiny knives pierced his chest as he held the daughter he had failed, wishing and hoping he hadn’t just kill her by his own hand. 

Alec watched on helplessly. SAM was out of reach once he had started the transfer. All he could do was wait . Staring at Sara’s vitals displayed in his HUD didn’t reassure him one bit. Her pulse remained elevated, her respiration still failing, brain activity erratic. That had been merely worrying until Sara started convulsing. 

Her muscles corded and tightened to a painful degree. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as the blood that coated the inside of her helmet stained her face. 

Something in his chest twisted. It went beyond the ache in his lungs from the breath he was holding in. A million tiny knives pierced his chest as he held the daughter he had failed, wishing and hoping he hadn’t just kill her by his own hand. 

Hubris, that was what he had in abundance. He assumed he had time now that they were in Andromeda. Blinded, that was what he was. Pushing his child, his daughter who just wanted and needed his approval. What did he give her other than hurt and pain? Just because he couldn’t reconcile, in his fucking head, the eezo that made Sara special was what sickened Ellen. Foolish, stupid and too damn fucking proud, he was all that and more. 

Amends would never be made. Apologies would never be said. He had the best possible care when SAM was transferred to _his_ implant back in the Milky Way, he forced the same process upon Sara while she was injured, in respiratory distress, on a hostile planet. What was he thinking? This was folly. 

_Have I consigned both of us to our deaths?_

“I’m sorry,” the words echoed in his head. It would be never uttered within earshot of the ones who most needed to hear it the most. Pride made his spine unbending in all the wrong ways. 

Alec pulled Sara into his lap gingerly, mindful of her broken rib. He blinked, his vision tunnelling as he fought his natural instinct to inhale. Sara wasn’t 22 and grown, lying across his lap. She was five again, scared out of her mind because her mother had fainted and cracked her head open on the corner of the kitchen counter. She was five again, screaming at her brother to call for help because _he_ was away. She was five again, putting pressure on her mother’s wound, saving her mother’s life. 

By the time Alec had arrived, it was days past. Ellen was recovering in the hospital while a C-Sec officer stayed with them. The nightmares started and Sara’s biotics manifested. It hadn’t changed things then, not yet. It wasn’t until he had Ellen’s diagnosis report in his hands that pride turned to anger. Irrational fury towards his daughter for benefiting from what was sickening her mother twisted him. He saw that now. Guilt ate away in his chest, squeezing his heart.

“I’m sorry,” the words echoed inside his head. “I’m so sorry.”

It was too late for him, maybe so even for her. Would she forgive him after all the years of hurt he had inflicted? Would she want anything to do with him if she knew what had done to Ellen? 

Alec Ryder, decorated N7 soldier, Pathfinder was in the end merely human. He tightened his grip over his daughter’s shaking body and prayed to no god in particular. It was a wish thrown out into the planet that was going to kill him. 

“Please, not Sara…”

* * *

The shuttle buzzed, it wasn’t just the hum of drive core. The atmosphere within the shuttle was electric, anticipation was high. They were in Andromeda, heading towards their promised golden world and they’d be the first humans to set foot on solid ground there, ever. 

Everyone checked and re-checked their weapons even Carlyle had a pistol assigned to him. Harper glanced at Alec. “What are your orders, sir?” 

He regarded his second for a moment and wondered how different it would be if Sara had her role. He wasn’t discounting Harper’s leadership abilities or her superior experience, but he knew Sara had it in her to do it, a little raw, a little green but she had the potential. The action she had seen fighting batarian slavers, and later on Janus fighting Cerberus couldn’t be denied. They were impressive. As a commander and a leader, he was curious, more so once he learnt of Shepard’s expressive request for his daughter to join the Normandy. 

He shook his head mentally and focused on Harper. “Once we get to the LZ, I want a perimeter set up. We’ll split the teams for simple scouting and survey. First contact protocol stands. If it’s possible I want find a good spot for the Ark to orbit, that way we can use the Ark’s sensors to do an orbital scan.”

“Entering atmosphere, expect some chop.” Santos shouted over the roar. The shuttle shuddered. 

Alec grabbed the hand hold as fire blazed outside the windows. Habitat Seven was swathed in burning orange and yellow. It didn’t take long before they broke through. Instead of blue skies and lush green forests the scans had promised them, they found electrical storms, crackling lightning and floating rocks. Grasps rippled across the shuttle as everyone pressed their faces against the panels. This was their new home. Goosebumps prickled up across his arms. _Ellen will love to see this. Just a little while longer. Ellen, just wait a little longer._

A thread of silver and white traced its way across the darken clouds then everything turned white. The roar of a thunder clap broke the spell. Santos juked the shuttle to the side. Hastily, everyone braced against the nearest handhold. 

“Sorry, sorry,” she said. “We’re still on course to the LZ.”

Alec nodded. A signal pinged his omni-tool. He accepted and static flooded the general comms channel. It took a while as the system scrubbed it clean of interference. “—Kirkland from Shuttle Two,” a voice cut in. “We’ve experienced a catastrophic lighting hit. Engines failing. I repeat, engines are failing.”

A wash of cold bitter fear swept over Alec, turning his fingers and toes tingly. He clenched his hands, his leather gloves creaked under the pressure. Everyone kept silent as they listened, a breathless anxiety gripped the shuttle. Metal groaning bursted through the comms. The sharp whine of air roared. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” Kirkland shouted. “We lost the fucking door.”

A voice screaming in terror before it was quickly whipped away as if the person was bodily removed from the shuttle.

“Fuck!” Sara’s voice came through as she shouted over the roar of the wind. “Liam, hold on!”

Alec fought his urge to issue orders and bark for status reports. It wasn’t going to do nobody any good. Distraction meant the difference between life and death. 

“Someone help me!” Kosta’s voice was high and thready, panic was barely suppressed.

“I’m trying,” Sara gritted out. Her grunts filled the air as everyone in Shuttle One held their collective breath. “Come on, Kosta, help me out here.”

Kosta didn’t reply. There was nothing for the heavy fluttering of air rushing against the open comms.

A boom shot through the channel. It turned surprised shouts and alarmed cries into static and noise. Alec’s jaw tightened, enamel grinding against each other. Words were poised on the tip of his tongue, but he held them back. 

The noise resolved itself into speech again as the Shuttle Two’s computers struggled to continue sending the signal. “—I repeat we’ve lost Ryder and Kosta. The blast had thrown them out. Pathfinder, do you copy?”

“Pathfinder here,” Alec growled, his heart stuttering in his chest. “I copy.” 

No, not Sara, not so soon after Scott. Why was this happening? This was supposed to be the fresh start he wanted, they needed. Andromeda was a living monster out to get every single last Ryder. “Abandon shuttle, I repeat, abandon the shuttle!”

“You heard the Pathfinder,” Kirkland bellowed. “Abandon shuttle! I repeat abandon—”

Another boom rocked Shuttle Two. Wind screamed, sharp and piercing for a split second before silence reigned. The void made Alec’s ears ring. He moved forward towards the cockpit. Any action was better than inaction. He couldn’t afford to be paralysed by the fear he had for Sara. She was beyond his help, he could grief later. Swallowing hard against the sour taste in his mouth, he focused on the mission. Only the mission mattered. 

“What’s the status of Shuttle Two?” he barked. “Raise them on the comms. Anyone has eyes on it?”

Pike who was seated next to Santos was busy tapping at the controls. Her fingers flew across the interface at a dizzying speed. “Their comms are down, sir,” she reported. “I can’t raise them.”

Alec was about to order her to keep trying when Harper called out to him. “Sir! I see them.”

His breath was caught in his throat. It swelled painfully, sealed his voice up in it. Harper stepped back, yielding the space so that he could look out the panel. There in the distance, Shuttle Two was ripped in half. Its metal frame sheared open, leaving ragged edges and melted interior exposed. Supplies were flung out into the air, trailing behind the two halves.

An arc of lightning traced across the stormy skies, racing towards their shuttle as alarms blared. “Fuck!” Santos cried as she worked the controls. 

Carlyle stumbled as the shuttle twisted. Harper was quick to grab a hold of him to keep the doctor from cracking his skull open. 

“Helmets on!” Alec ordered, buckling his on while his eyes were still trained on the pieces of Shuttle Two. 

The lightning that was making towards them struck one half of the downed shuttle. An explosion scattered the shuttle into smaller pieces, a confetti stream of blackened pieces fell towards the ground. Just like Sara did. How was he going to explain this to Scott or Ellen? His relationship with his daughter might be complicated, but he did loved her in the limited ways he could bring himself to. There was so much unsaid between them. He was supposed to have time. A father shouldn’t have to bury a daughter. 

“Get us down,” he growled, keeping a tight grip on the handhold. 

Santos was already trying, sweat beaded across her forehead as her eyes darted across her controls, scanning for any warning for the next lightning strike. 

“SAM, do you have the vitals of the people on Shuttle Two?” he asked. His question rushed through his clenched teeth breathlessly. 

“One moment.”

One by one the vitals of each and every member of the crew of Shuttle Two popped up on his HUD. A. Kirkland, his vitals were strong though elevated. So were P. Fisher’s and M. Greer’s. Their suits were still pinging their location. 

“Track their suits,” he muttered. “We will pick them up once we land.”

Pins appeared on his omni-tool, pulsing and shifting as the signal cut in and out. “Come on,” he muttered under his breath. “Sara… please.”

L. Kosta’s vitals winked up, his held strong. His position was static. _Has he reached on the ground safely?_

“Kosta, do you read?” he barked, praying and hoping he’d get a reply. There was nothing but the snap of static. “Sara, where the fuck are you?” 

Scenarios flooded his mind, they played out in vivid detail. It was well within the realm of possibility that Sara was lost forever, no last words, no body to recover or bury, just fucking gone. Something twisted in Alec’s chest, sour guilt curled his tongue, making it impossible to concentrate. 

Like a miracle granted from gods he didn’t believe in, S. Ryder’s vitals popped up on his HUB. Her pulse was racing, her respiration failing fast. “SAM, what’s wrong with Sara’s suit?”

“Helmet breach.”

 _No._

Was he going to watch his daughter die before his eyes while he was still hurtling through the air, dodging lightning? 

Sara’s vitals flashed in alarming red. He bit down, tasting iron. “Come on, come on.” They had drilled for suit breaches. She knew what she needed to do. He had every confidence in her ability, but what if she was too injured to help herself? Groggy from the fall, breathless from the impact? 

“Helmet breach repaired,” SAM reported. 

His lungs refused to remember how they were supposed to work, not until Sara’s vitals dropped out of the red zone. 

“Can’t make it to the LZ, sir,” Santos shouted, still fighting to keep the shuttle in one piece. 

Yanking his attention back to the situation at hand, Alec took a shuddering breath to steady himself. “Find the nearest spot. Far better we land in one piece than not. The team from Shuttle One made it down fine.” 

His news was met with cheer. The tension eased back a notch. They were all professionals, knowing death waited at every corner was one thing, to have it come from the elements, something nobody had control over was galling. 

“Understood, Pathfinder,” Santos acknowledged as the shuttle shifted to take them down. 

The ground rushed up towards them. SAM reported. “The storm electrical interference is disrupting the signal, I will lose connection to Team Two’s suits.”

He sighed. “Understood.” 

Glancing once more at Sara’s position, breathing a little easier knowing her position wasn’t far from Kosta’s. They’d follow protocol, linking up before heading off to find the rest of their team. There was no need to worry. Words weren’t quite enough to reassure himself, but based on the location Santos had put them down, he wouldn’t have a choice. They were too far to provide assistance, and the mission came first. 

Andromeda might be a hard trial, but Sara was a survivor of Janus, she had been tested and found able and ready. She would be fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on my [Tumblr](https://natsora.tumblr.com/). Kudos and comments are always welcome!


	4. Sara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time slowed as Alec’s pulse pounded in his ears. He couldn’t hold his breath indefinitely. His brain screamed for him to breath, but as much as he was taking in, there was nothing Habitat Seven could offer. Every breath he took made him crave for more and yet more. 
> 
> _No, stop._
> 
> A hand pressed against his mouth, it was a vain attempt to last a little longer. 
> 
> Sara had stopped convulsing, but she hadn’t regained consciousness. The transfer must have been completed, but her vitals weren’t improving. Dread filled his mouth with ashes. For all his training and years of experience on field, he was utterly helpless. He sat and waited, begging an unforgiving galaxy for mercy. 
> 
> _Carlyle, please hurry._

Time slowed as Alec’s pulse pounded in his ears. He couldn’t hold his breath indefinitely. His brain screamed for him to breath, but as much as he was taking in, there was nothing Habitat Seven could offer. Every breath he took made him crave for more and yet more. 

_No, stop._

A hand pressed against his mouth, it was a vain attempt to last a little longer. 

Sara had stopped convulsing, but she hadn’t regained consciousness. The transfer must have been completed, but her vitals weren’t improving. Dread filled his mouth with ashes. For all his training and years of experience on field, he was utterly helpless. He sat and waited, begging an unforgiving galaxy for mercy. 

_Carlyle, please hurry._

The Pathfinder authority now laid squarely on Sara. The child he had neglected had to stand in his stead, shouldering a burden she hadn’t asked for. 

But Scott…

Scott’s fate still hung in the balance. So far away, there was nothing he could do for his son. It was all in the hands of the Hyperion’s doctors. 

And Ellen… 

Alec squeezed his eyes shut. surprised to find tears rolling down his cheeks. Lost, trapped, frozen, Ellen would be so mad. She would have wanted to give him a piece of her mind, and he would have gladly accepted, but the best made plans and all that…

This would all on Sara’s shoulders now. He tightened his grip on her arm, squeezing as hard as he could through the armour. The encrypted memories would have to be her way forward now. These were neural triggers that would activate once sufficient time had passed. It would have to be enough. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, Sara.”

* * *

Alec stared at the aliens. No, _they_ were the aliens, but these bone clad combatants, didn’t look native to Andromeda either. Though humanoid, standing on two feet like humans that was where the similarities ended. Green armour encased their bodies from the neck down, they had no need for rebreather helmets even in this argon-nitrogen heavy atmosphere. Whatever they were, they were dangerous, hostile and hardy.

Ash white bone wrapped around their skulls and foreheads, tracing down the side of their faces to meet at their chins. Only what passed for eyes, noses and mouths remained unprotected. Alec studied the plates that protruded from their arms. Were those natural armour, similar to what turians and krogans had?

Guttural speech ripped through their throats as one bellowed orders at the others. It was impossible to say which of them were male or female, or even if they had anything resembling gender in their society. Whoever they were, it was clear they were in no mood to talk. 

Alec scowled. He did not imagine Andromeda to be devoid of intelligent life, but to have one that was actively trying to kill them was going to make things that much harder. Andromeda had it out for them from the second they had arrived. The energy cloud, the crash landing onto Habitat Seven and now these hostiles that didn’t belong. 

_What have I done?_

Alec shook his head. No, they were beyond doubts. The Milky Way wasn’t safe, Ellen would die without intervention. He refused to watch that unfold before his eyes. He wouldn’t allow it. Ellen could rage at him, Sara could refuse to speak to him ever again, hell Scott could hate him. This was the right thing to do. 

Why choose death if there was hope, even one as slim as this?

Taking a deep breath, he refocused on the hostiles. Setting up a perimeter and a force field shielding them from the electrical storm that ripped through the open field between his little perch and the structure beyond, it spoke of purpose. If SAM’s scans were any indication, he could guess why. The key to stopping the electrical storm laid inside. One way or another he and his team had to breach the monolith. It was their ticket off this fucking planet. 

“Sir,” Harper called out. 

Alec glanced over his shoulder. She was taking the lead while Kosta and Sara took the rear. He had been expecting them. 

“Stay low.”

Sara had her rifle out, scanning the environment, determined not to be caught unaware. He noted with approval.

An ache took hold of his chest. If he could have seen her as one of his soldiers, he would have enjoyed working with Sara. She was competent, able to fall in step with whoever she was working with or under, anticipating what was required and doing it without needing to be prompted. Possibilities flashed across his mind of what could have been. Their eyes met as Sara holstered her rifle and came to his side. She looked away first, opting to survey the field and evaluating the enemies. 

“Who are they?” Harper asked, her voice hush as she couching low on the other side of him. 

“Whoever they are, they are visitors just like us,” he replied.

“Yeah, we found an abandoned lab, like they’ve been studying the place. These guys don’t belong, and they are hostile,” Sara reported. “They shot Kirkland in cold blood.” 

“He tried to follow first contact protocol but…” Liam chimed in, his voice trailing away. 

Sara grimaced, flickers of shadow crossed her eyes. Alec remembered the reports, she had lost most of her team back on Janus. His daughter wasn’t untested, thinking being an Alliance soldier was all fun and games, looking cool in a uniform and playing pretend. She was well aware of the perils of command.

“We will recover his body later,” Alec said. “It’s the best you could do.” This was the faintest of praise. The words foreign and unfamiliar in his mouth, especially when it was directed at his daughter.

Sara’s head jerked up, her eyes boring into his. A shuddering breath rattled through her lungs as she shifted away. “Sorry, we weren’t fast enough.” 

Alec’s hand twitched, he wanted to grab her shoulder, to explain he wasn’t telling her she wasn’t good enough, to tell her this was a genuine compliment. Had it been that bad between them? Had he always been so harsh that everything sounded like a rebuke? He swallowed but the sour taste remained. It felt like he’d never be rid of it. 

Harper looked at them, her lip pressed thin, sensing the tension. This was no time for family drama. Shoving the thoughts back to his mind, he concentrated on the problem at hand. A hardened gaze surveying the patrol patterns and where the hostiles gathered. 

The storm raged over their heads, snapping and screaming as lightning struck the pylons the hostiles had set up. They stood under the storm without fear, guarding the shield, standing between his team and their objective. 

“What we need is in there,” he said, pointing at the black structure that reached up towards the sky. Bright white electricity struck its very tip, energy rippled down in a cascading dance of blue and green, following sharp lines etched into the strange material. 

“What makes you say so?” Sara asked, doubt darkening her eyes as she studied the black monolith. 

Pride mixed with anger was a heady combination. His eyes flashed at his daughter, but she didn’t back down, not if his, as yet groundless, statement was going to lead them into danger. Again the twist in his chest, again the ache of what could have been, and the sour taste of reality filled his mouth. 

“That’s the energy cloud that the Hyperion hit, and it is affecting the whole planet. It’s interfering with that,” he pointed at their target. 

“My scans indicate the undirected energy is causing random lightning strikes and while this is active, no shuttle can take off,” SAM said. 

Sara’s mind raced ahead, her eyes darting across the field, observing the hostiles. “Then, we have to get in there and shut the damn tower down.”

“Those guys have the same idea too,” Kosta jerked his chin towards the hostiles as a new group heading through the barrier. “How are we going to get through?”

“No illusions about that, it’s going to be a hard fight,” Alec warned them. 

Harper glanced at Sara before turning back to him. “If Sara’s game, I’m too.”

Already, Sara had won Harper’s trust, something he had failed to do himself, although it was with good reason. He had lied to her and was _still_ lying to her. 

“How are we going to get through?” Kosta asked. “We’re vastly outnumbered here.”

Alec grunted. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got that covered. Just be ready.”

With a tap on his omni-tool, the bombs he had placed around the enemy’s encampment were armed. A second tap, and the explosives went boom. Chaos sowed, he rose to his feet and charged in, trusting the others to follow. Sara’s white armour bobbed in his peripheral vision, keeping pace easily. Her rifle bucked as she shifted from cover to cover. Her eyes sharp, her aim keen as she covered him. Having Sara watching his back gave him a security he didn’t know he needed. 

A solid wave of azure and violet launched from Sara’s hand, slamming the first wave of enemies back. He flinched. Fighting alongside biotics was a common enough occurrence when he was with the Alliance, but it was different when it was Sara. The physical manifestation of her biotics was harder to swallow. It was a slap to his face every time he witnessed it. 

As much as he recognised Sara couldn’t choose to be a biotic, he couldn’t control his irrational anger towards it. It was more than 15 years since he realised his daughter was a biotic. His rational mind just couldn’t reconcile how ezzo was killing his wife but it had turned his daughter into a super human. Old anger fought with new found pride, neither giving way. 

Jaw tight, he used it to fuel his motions. The hostiles roared in anger and surged forward to meet them. When all of it was said and done, he trusted Sara. She was a professional, her record reflected that. And even if he didn’t agree with much of anything Shepard did or her methods, she had an eye for talent. 

* * *

Sara slammed a fresh magazine into her rifle and pressed her back against cover, her lungs labouring but her hands steady. Alec popped up from cover and fired at the incoming enemies. They worked well as a team. Words were unnecessary, they were a well oiled team. 

There was a certain pleasure working with someone else who fit him this well, but to have it be his daughter made him realise how his irrationality had blinded him. He should have been proud of her abilities, biotics or otherwise, but it still felt wrong, a betrayal to Ellen and her suffering. He had given her a solid foundation on which the Alliance built upon, why was it so infuriating to see her use the skills she had? Despite his distaste for her biotics, he did not neglect to get her trained in them. In fact, he needed her to be able to control them since she got them younger than the norm. 

_It’s not her fault but…_

Everything he heard through the Alliance grapevine since she left home to join the early biotic enlistment programme had been positive. This was proof of his attention towards Sara’s development. He had done his part as her father, bu their relationship remained fraught and difficult. 

_I understand why but…_

Batarians, Janus, and then that debacle with Shepard and the Normandy, Sara pulled through them all. That was what made her different from Scott. He had only managed to keep one of them safe when Cerberus wanted them as leverage against SAM. They were his children, he loved them, he really did. But even he couldn’t lie to himself he did not favour Scott over Sara. Simply because Sara wasn’t normal, simply because when Sara looked at him, it reminded him Ellen was dying, and still stuck in a cryo pod held in stasis, frozen and waiting. 

_It’s fucked up but…_

Even as complicated Alec’s feelings was towards his daughter, he wouldn’t leave her to the fate the Milky Way was consigned to. He had feared she might have picked up Shepard’s penchant to buck against protocols and rules. Shepard might be a golden girl to the Alliance, but Sara was his daughter. He wasn’t going to stand for any of it. 

His fears went unmaterialised. Sara accepted his commands and carried them out dutifully without a word of objection, seeking only clarifications when she needed them. Why did he ever thought there was going to be a problem? In fact, he had gained a competent and well trained biotic at his back, someone he could trust his six to. Why did it take him this long to see his daughter for who she really was? 

Sara had always been able to dredge up emotions Alec locked tight away within himself. What was once clear was quickly made fuzzy, what were straight forward decisions were made fraught instantly. It was frustrating. he exhaled, packing his thoughts away haphazardly, locking them down once more. 

He sprinted forward, making towards the next set of cover. Sara’s rifle barked behind him, covering his rush. Something bowled him over without warning. His breath was knocked from his lungs as he slammed to the ground. Suddenly, he found himself wrestling with an invisible foe that was hellbent on tearing him apart. Sharp teeth scraped against his armour, making sharp tearing sounds. His breath hissed loud in his ears as he struggled to get a good grip on the creature. Snarls and growls filled the air, he couldn’t say which were his and which were the creature’s. Even with his omni-blade deployed and bringing it to bare against the invisible beast, he knew he was caught in the open, with his pants down. Through the comms, Sara’s voice came through, barking orders. With a grunt, he buried the omni-blade in the creature’s soft underbelly. As it slumped over his chest, its invisibility faded. Alec shoved it off his chest and quickly scrambled for cover. Pressing his back against the nearest low wall, he blinked realising a blue barrier shimmered over him. It was absorbing hits, each bullet slamming into the wall of blue slowed to a crawl. Sara stood with her back towards him, engulfed in all blue flames. She fired her rifle and sent lances of dark energy into the enemy lines in turn. 

“Clear,” came Kosta’s voice through the comms. 

“All clear,” Harper chimed in. 

Sara exhaled, still trying to catch her breath as she droppped the barrier down, shaking her extended hand like it was bothering her. “Thank guys,” she replied. She offered him a hand. 

Alec stared at it for a moment, recognising for what it was. A helping hand, a bridge between them, maybe even a fresh start. He slapped his palm against it and she pulled him up with ease. 

“Good job,” he said, holding onto Sara’s hand for a moment longer than needed. 

Her eyes met his. Surprise and shock, but overwhelmingly, relief. The sour taste returned, reminding him of his failures as a parent. He nodded curtly and moved forward, ever forward. The others fell in. 

They herded and chased the hostiles, pushing back against their superior numbers. Entering the maze of alien constructed base that surrounded the black monolith was a risk, but one they had to take if they wanted access. 

The room they burst into was empty. The enemies had fled, rushing towards the main entrance of the monolith to set up a final stand. With a cry, Sara’s biotics slammed into the wide transparent panel. The material shattered outwards. Alec raised his rifle’s sight to his eye and started shooting as Sara vaulted through the hole she just made. Aflame in all blue, she charged into the enemy lines like a lightning bolt. 

For a split second, his breath was caught in his throat. This was his daughter, _his_. Already she had gotten him through a sticky situation, but what if he had reached out before they were forced to work together? What a difference would that have made? Could he have developed SAM back in the Milky Way? House much heartache could have been averted?

Sara could have been his second. She _should_ have been his second.

With a growl, he focused his attention on the situation. The way foward was clear. He leapt out and jogged to join Sara and Harper. They had one more hurdle to clear to gain access to the looming monolith before them. 

* * *

“SAM,” Alec barked. “How long?”

“Estimated time to decrypt the console is seven minutes and forty two seconds,” came the reply. 

“Got it,” Harper replied before she turned to Sara and Kosta. She jerked her fingers and directed them to the spots she wanted them. With Sara taking the left and Kosta the right, Harper situated herself in the centre. 

Alec concentrated on keeping SAM connected to the console. The others would keep him safe. Battle roared around him as he watched the status bar ticked upwards towards completion. Their voices crackled through the comms as they called out targets. Gunfire punctuated their words, biotics sizzled through the air as the hostiles yelled in surprise. Just as the noise died down, SAM reported, “Decryption completed.”

Alec straightened. He glanced at the others. Harper nodded. “All enemies are down.”

“Good work, everyone,” he said, his eyes lingering on Sara who was loading a fresh clip into her rifle. Turning his attention to Harper, he ordered, “Take Kosta and pick up the others at Shuttle Two’s wreckage, then come back for us.”

“Yes, sir,” Harper acknowledged. “Kosta, come on.”

“Sara, with me.” he didn’t wait to see if she acknowledged his order. He trusted her. 

Step by step, Alec approached the monolith’s entrance. Its entire surface was smooth and seamless. He wouldn’t have been able to tell it was a door until its edges hadn’t parted some. How was he supposed to get the damn thing all the way open?

Sara stepped up to his side. Her gaze trained on the alien black surface. Brushing her fingers across it. The surface flared in response, blue and green lines lighting up the path of her fingers. She flinched as if burnt, but the door remained stubbornly locked in its barely opened state. 

Sara glanced at him. “Brute force?”

He shrugged. They worked together, laying hands on the odd material. It was not quite stone, not quite metal. Grunting and panting, they shoved and pushed the parted plates. It took some effort, but the plates slid apart eventually. There was no grinding of gears at work, there was no hissing of hydraulics engaging. It was utterly silent. Never had he seen something like this. 

With the opening widened, Alec stepped into the alien monolith, Sara followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on my [Tumblr](https://natsora.tumblr.com/). Kudos and comments are always welcome!


	5. The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shuttle’s ETA two minutes,” Harper’s voice rang in his ear. “Hold on.”
> 
> Alec took a shuddering breath only to be forced to take another. Each one he took, his lungs begged him for just one more. Habitat Seven was going to be his grave. His tombstone would say nothing but “failed husband and father”. Why had he dragged them all here for? For a fresh start he wasn’t truly committed to? For a cure he knew in his hearts of heart was a vain hope. 
> 
> Tears leaked from his eyes as a sob ripped from his throat. He thought himself strong, but he was by far the weakest of them all. Ellen was ready for the end, he decided his need was more important than her wishes. He could see that now. How clearly he was seeing that now. 
> 
> Sara’s vitals were failing again. It holding steady for a short time was a fluke. Whatever SAM was doing, it wasn’t working. He had consigned his daughter to death, his son to a life alone on Andromeda if he woke and his wife to an uncertain fate. 

“Shuttle’s ETA two minutes,” Harper’s voice rang in his ear. “Hold on.”

Alec took a shuddering breath only to be forced to take another. Each one he took, his lungs begged him for just one more. Habitat Seven was going to be his grave. His tombstone would say nothing but “failed husband and father”. Why had he dragged them all here for? For a fresh start he wasn’t truly committed to? For a cure he knew in his hearts of heart was a vain hope. 

Tears leaked from his eyes as a sob ripped from his throat. He thought himself strong, but he was by far the weakest of them all. Ellen was ready for the end, he decided his need was more important than her wishes. He could see that now. How clearly he was seeing that now. 

Sara’s vitals were failing again. It holding steady for a short time was a fluke. Whatever SAM was doing, it wasn’t working. He had consigned his daughter to death, his son to a life alone on Andromeda if he woke and his wife to an uncertain fate. 

A roar shook the ground. His heart lurching and stuttering in panic as he reached futilely for a rifle he no longer had the strength to fire. Craning his neck, he saw a shuttle of white and blue shot across the sky before landing somewhere out of sight. It was here. Maybe there was hope for Sara. 

“Hold on, sir!” Harper’s voice drifted away further and further away. All that was left was his pulse thumping in his ear and the rising and falling of Sara’s chest under his hand. 

“Hold on,” he whispered to Sara. 

* * *

“Fuck,” Sara whispered as they stepped in. The bright glow coming from the alien interface reflected in her eyes, bright, gleaming and bold. 

“Yeah,” Alec chuckled. 

Sara looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Snorting, he jerked his head towards the triangle of light floating in mid-air. Slow and steady, they approached. She had her rifle out, ready for the first sign of hostiles. Approval and pride, both foreign emotions when it came to Sara, but this mission had prove her mettle ten-fold. Even now with all the revelations he had. His tongue still tasted sour. Sour of guilt, sour of unspoken words, sour of the anger he was beginning to chisel from his heart. 

Soon, he promised himself. Soon he’d have a good talk with Sara. Good explanations, those he didn’t have, they would sound like excuses. They _were_ excuses. It might seemed impossible for hate and love to exist at the same time, focused on the same person, but it did. 

He had no right to take his anxiety and worry out of his daughter but she bore the brunt of his impotence and anger. Tidying it away and calling it discipline didn’t excuse his actions. His daughter needed a father, not a commanding officer. It was to Ellen’s credit they still were a family and not sundered and spread across the entire galaxy, too angry and frustrated to remain together. 

_Soon. I promise._

“So what’s next?” Sara asked, her eyes still trained on the silver glittering lights. 

“SAM decoded part of the language by interfacing with the console outside,” he replied. “Now maybe we can have a conversation.”

She frowned at him. “With who?”

“With what,” he corrected. “I think this thing is automated.” 

She huffed, a soft sound of wonder mixed with acceptance. Without waiting for his command, she strode ahead, taking the lead. Blue light bathed over her, tingeing her white armour. Exposed panels of green and black on the ground flared as she passed. The closer she got to the alien interface, the stronger the light pulsed. 

Her acceptance of her role in the team seemed to come at the cost of the spark and fire he saw when she was a child of five. It was a fire that weathered so much only for him to nearly extinguish. 

“Sara,” blurting her name before he knew what he wanted to say. 

She spun around. Suspicion, wariness and apprehension, but beyond them was a tiny bit of hope and yearning. 

“You did good,” the words spilled from his lips in a rough tumble. 

Straightening, the edges of a smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you, sir.”

Alec grimaced. There was a sudden tightness in his chest, a need to hear her call him Pa again. When was the last time the word graced her lips? When was the last time he had actually heard it? Months? Years? The fact that he couldn’t remember scared him. 

_What kind of father have I been?_

Sara frowned, the tightening between her brow was an expression he had seen so often on his own. For all his stupid fucked up anger, she was truly his daughter. One moulded in his shape and his damned personality too. 

“Shall we continue?” she asked. “We should really shut this down. I don’t like the look of Pike’s and Fisher’s injuries.”

He inhaled sharply. Her priorities were right, he had indulged in his own strange musings enough for a day. His legs took him passed her. 

Beams of light pierced the gloomy interior, forming a triangle. The entire interface was seemingly suspended in midair. 

“SAM?”

“I am here, Alec,” SAM replied.

“Begin translating.”

The shimmering core of the interface pulsed like it was breathing, steady and regular. _Is it sentient?_

“Translation complete,” SAM reported. 

“Let’s shut this thing down,” he ordered. 

“Yes Alec,” SAM said.

Alec could feel Sara’s eyes on his back as he raised his palm towards the alien interface. His omni-tool flickered to life, throwing bright orange against his face. He couldn’t say if it was merely a visual aid thrown on his HUD to help him make sense of what was happening, but tendrils of orange lights drifted from his hand towards the alien interface. Spreading and reaching, it was all he could do to hope SAM’s translations were accurate. 

Lights at the points of the interface flared in unison in an intensity so strong that his visor couldn’t keep it from blinded him. He winced, twisting away. Sara stepped up to his side. It was fitting she stood by his side as he attempted this. 

White flashed across the perimeter of the triangular interface. Alec took a step back, bumping into Sara. The ground rumbled and shook. Just like that the oppressive feeling on Habitat Seven faded. 

It was the storm, it always had been the storm. Alec could truly breathe again. The first hurdle was cleared. All he had to do was let SAM do his thing. Now they could head way back to the Hyperion, lick their wounds and plan their next step. 

Walking out of the structure was like stepping onto a whole new world. The skies were clear. Though the rocks still floated, the storm was completely gone. Maybe this could work, maybe Habitat Seven could still be viable. Maybe a cure for AEND wasn’t all that far away, maybe he could find a way to love his daughter the way she deserved to be. Maybe a man could wish and pray and have it all. 

“You did it,” Sara whispered, her voice reverent as she gazed out at what potentially was new Earth. 

His arm rose, fingers splayed out as it hovered just over her shoulder. Hesitation froze his hand as the sour taste returned. Alec grunted and forced his hand to rest against Sara’s shoulder. He felt her flinch under his grip, but he pretended he did not notice. 

“ _We_ did it,” he replied. 

Sara stared at him. “Thank you,” the words released from between her lips lifted the tightness in his chest. “Pa—”

Her sentence hung half finished. She spun, eyes jerking to look back at the alien structure. A warning on her lips, a frown on her brow. Roiling waves of energy and gas rushing towards them. A roar filled his ears, rocking him to the core. Its hunger would not be denied. 

“Look out!” 

A brilliant blue wrapped around them, a barrier against the rushing tide. She stood in a pose not unlike his just mere moments before. His to unlock an alien tech, hers to keep them from certain death. Determination and grit stretched across her shoulders as her face scrunched up in concentration. 

The storm slammed into them. Her barrier stood no chance. It flickered and shattered upon contact. All Sara had time for was a sharp inhale of surprise, then she was ripped away from his grip. There was no time to even scream. One moment Alec had his feet planted on the ground, the next he was falling and falling and falling. 

* * *

Alec’s vision was more dark than clear now. His breath wheezed in shuddering spurts too weak to answer his body’s desperate need for air. He was suffocating. 

This was it. 

Boots clomping against the packed soil of Habitat Seven. Dark figures were running towards them, probably Harper and Carlyle. They had to hurry. Sara needed their help. 

This was it. 

“I’m sorry,” Alec gasped. “I’m so sorry for everything.” 

The last words he ever uttered were in apology to his daughter, words he should have told her while she was still capable of hearing them, words he needed to say, words she needed to hear. As the darkness consumed Alec Ryder, his thoughts lingered on his daughter, and the duty and burden he had saddled her with. A sense of confidence lifting him as he sank down into the depths of inky darkness. She would rise to the challenge, of that, he had no doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on my [Tumblr](https://natsora.tumblr.com/). Kudos and comments are always welcome!


	6. The Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consciousness returned like lapping waves of the rising tides. The cold unyielding surface against her back chilled her to the bones. Lights flickering over her closed eyelids, turned her world alternatingly red and black. A hum, all encompassing and steady, filled her ears. The air tasted crisp and sterile. 
> 
> She inhaled and shifted. That was the wrong thing to do. It woke the pain and everything hurt. A groan spilled from her lips unbidden.
> 
> “Ryder?”
> 
> She cracked her eyelids opened. Light was a spike straight into her brain. “Fuck,” she hissed, squeezed them shut again. With a grunt and eyes tightly shut, she levered herself upright. 
> 
> “Hey, hey, easy.”
> 
> Frowning, she tried to place the voice. “Kosta?”
> 
> “Liam, but yes,” he replied, chuckling a little. “It’s me. How are you feeling?”
> 
> Sara attempted opening her eyes again, this time directing them to the floor. It worked better. The floor was silver and polished. It reflected the ceiling lights, it _had_ ceiling lights. She was most definitely not on Habitat Seven any longer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter people. If you want more Ryder, her current long fic is still being updated once every 3 weeks. Check out[The Persephone Arc](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17135813) to see what she is up to before she leaves for Andromeda.

Consciousness returned like lapping waves of the rising tides. The cold unyielding surface against her back chilled her to the bones. Lights flickering over her closed eyelids, turned her world alternatingly red and black. A hum, all encompassing and steady, filled her ears. The air tasted crisp and sterile. 

She inhaled and shifted. That was the wrong thing to do. It woke the pain and everything hurt. A groan spilled from her lips unbidden.

“Ryder?”

She cracked her eyelids opened. Light was a spike straight into her brain. “Fuck,” she hissed, squeezed them shut again. With a grunt and eyes tightly shut, she levered herself upright. 

“Hey, hey, easy.”

Frowning, she tried to place the voice. “Kosta?”

“Liam, but yes,” he replied, chuckling a little. “It’s me. How are you feeling?”

Sara attempted opening her eyes again, this time directing them to the floor. It worked better. The floor was silver and polished. It reflected the ceiling lights, it _had_ ceiling lights. She was most definitely not on Habitat Seven any longer. 

Hunched over, her ribs ached something fierce. “What happened?” she gasped, fighting to gain her feet. There was an urgency burning in her gut, but she couldn’t quite place why that was. 

The world tilted the moment she got to her feet, the floor seemed to surge up to her face. Strong arms wrapped around her hip, halting her downward fall. Liam pulled her arm over his shoulder. “Come on, you shouldn’t be on your feet yet.”

He eased her back onto the makeshift bed she had been lying on. The dark spots in her vision retreated once she was no longer upright. It took her a moment to realise where she was. “We’re in SAM node? The Hyperion?”

Liam nodded. 

Though her memories were still fuzzy at best, a sudden tightness squeezed her chest, her headache intensified. “What happened?”

Her eyes were locked on Liam’s, but he grimaced and looked away. “I should get Harry or Lexi to come check in on you.”

Fingers digging into her temples, she tried to squeeze the drumming from her skull. “Just tell me, where’s the Pathfinder?” she asked. “Where’s my father?”

His jaw tightened, looking longingly at the door, probably wishing he could escape. Her heart thudding against her chest at an ever increasing rate the longer he held his tongue. 

It felt like an eternity later when Liam took a deep breath and said, “He died.”

The words didn’t register. Sara blinked. “Dead?” 

Liam nodded. 

“How?” Her voice held steady despite the air rushing out of her lungs. Despite being seated, she wavered. Her arms braced against the bed were the only thing that held her up. She’d never ever thought this was possible. Her father was the invincible N7 soldier, decorated Alliance soldier, Pathfinder to Ark Hyperion. He could never die, never.

“I should get someone to check on you,” Liam inched towards the door, determined not to be the one answering her questions. “You don’t look too good.”

“Liam,” she called, forcing herself to her feet again, her vision darkened for a second, but it cleared up quickly. “Just tell me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

* * *

As the words poured from between Liam’s lips, like a broken dam, she found she needed to sit again. The tightness intensified to a degree she found herself gasping softly. 

“And now you’re the Pathfinder, Ryder.”

Her eyes snapped up to meet his. “I’m the Pathfinder?”

“Yes, Cora has confirmed it with SAM, the Pathfinder authority has been passed to you,” he replied. “Shit, you really do not look good. Please just stay here, Ryder. I’m going to get someone.”

It had started then. She had taken on her father’s mantle whether she wanted it or not. All the hurt and pain that stretched from the Milky Way to Andromeda came to an abrupt halt, but it didn’t mean she didn’t have questions. The whys she needed answers for but had never dared ask. Now, they would remain forever a mystery. That tenuous cord that tied her to her father was roughly sliced off, leaving her bleeding and confused. 

“Pathfinder,” a voice spoke up in the recesses of her mind, unexpected and sudden. 

She flinched before groaning. The motion jarring her aching body. 

“I'm sorry, Pathfinder,” the voice said — she jerked again, reality never hit her harder — “I didn’t mean to startle you. This is SAM, speaking to you via our private channel.”

Pathfinder, she was the Pathfinder now, because her father was dead. Dead, like her mother. Dead, because of her? Her memories were still a jumbled mess. She remembered her father’s curt manner during the briefing, his stern and calculating eyes when she boarded the shuttle, the roar of the wind as she and Liam was ripped out of it. Fisher, Greer and Kirkland’s faces flashed before her eyes. Injuries and death pressed against her mind. She grunted and squeezed her eyes shut. There was no stopping the roiling chaos in her mind. 

“SAM,” she called out. “What’s happening to me?”

“My transfer to your implant had been highly traumatic and you were clinically died for 22 seconds.”

 ** _I died._** _Why am I here when Pa isn’t? **I died.** Why did he pick me over himself? **I died.** Why me? **I died.** It doesn’t make sense. **I died.** This should have been Cora’s job, not mine. **I died.**_

“Pathfinder, your cortisol level is rising,” SAM informed, but his voice was far away. 

Her brain throbbed inside her skull harder. A whimper escaped her clenched tight jaw. She could almost feel her father’s eyes burning a hole against her back, forcing her to turn and look. There was nothing, just SAM. The blue undulating shape that hung in the middle of an empty room felt impersonal, his voice in her head invasive. 

“Do you require assistance, Pathfinder?” SAM asked. 

This was all too much to take in. 

_Can I do it? Ark Hyperion depends on me now. Habitat Seven isn’t viable, not really. 20,000 lives, they all depend on me, just me. I don’t think I can._

She caught herself, noticing her breath had quickened, growing shallow. Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced herself to take slow deliberate breaths. It wouldn’t do nobody any good if she freaked out and have a panic attack. “Get a grip.” Her fingernails dug into her palms, cutting half moons into them. Focusing on the pain, she used it to ground herself to reality, to drag herself back from the chaos of doubts and crashing waves of anxiety. 

_It’s fine, I’m fine, everything will be fine._

Sara couldn’t say how long she repeated that to herself, but her breathing was almost back to normal when Harry and Lexi entered. 

“Ryder,” Harry called out, stopping an arm’s length away while Lexi approached, her omni-tool already out in a well-practised motion. Orange light swept over her, scanning her vitals. She looked up and saw the guilt in the twisted grimace plastered across Harry’s face. 

“Thank you, both of you for saving my life.” She tried to raise only to be pushed back onto her butt by Lexi. 

“Sit, your blood pressure is a little low, I do not like that,” Lexi said. Fishing a ration bar from her pocket, she thrusted it into Sara’s face. “Eat this.”

Despite not feeling the least bit hungry and the thought of eating turning her stomach, she forced herself to bite a piece off. She chewed on it deliberately and slowly, hopefully her gut wouldn’t rebel and toss it back out again later.

“SAM,” Harry straightened, shifting his attention to the blue blob behind her. “How does the connection look?”

“The connection is stable now. Resetting her connection to me has helped,” SAM replied. “The Pathfinder’s vitals has stabilised.”

“Good,” he nodded, turning back to Sara. “Ryder, how do you feel? Any soreness or discomfort?”

Ryder. She had lost her name without even realising it, just because she was the only Ryder left. Scott was locked in a coma, her mother long dead and her father now gone because he sacrificed himself for a daughter he never loved. It just didn’t make any sense. 

“Just my ribs and a killer headache.”

“That is to be expected,” Lexi replied. “You broke your ribs and punctured your lung. The transfer wrecked havoc with your brain, which is also likely to be the cause of your headache.”

Harry nodded with relief. 

“Thankfully, the scan results are normal. All you need rest, a proper one this time and some painkillers to tide you over.”

The door slid open, this time admitting Cora and Liam. Ryder’s eyes found Cora’s. Apologies crowded in her mouth, but they died seeing the anger and confusion rippling across Cora’s face. Words were inadequate for this. She had no explanation to offer, none that was good enough. Cora took a deep breath and within the span of the ten steps it took to get from the door to an arm’s length from Sara’s face, the anger and confusion was stowed away. There was nothing left but a stoic stony expression. 

“Pathfinder,” Cora greeted, her voice a little harsher than usual. The word cut like broken shards of glass.

Ryder’s jaw tightened. “Are you sure—”

“I will stand by Alec’s decision. He transferred the Pathfinder authority to you.”

It stung to hear Cora’s voice so sharp, so bitter, but it felt right. Cora deserved to let her anger be known. This was supposed to be her job after all. 

“We are arriving at the Nexus soon, it’s best you get prepared. We need our Pathfinder,” Cora went on as if she hadn’t had spoken at all. 

Harry was about to object, but Sara shook her head. He folded his arms across his chest, disapproval radiating. 

Sara — no Ryder — rolled her shoulders, trying to settle the newfound weight across them. She grunted and pushed herself to her feet. Her legs held this time, eating had helped. Nodding her thanks to Lexi and Harry, she took her first steps as the human Pathfinder. They were stiff and a little awkward, but they were hers. 

“Come on, we have work to do,” she said, striding towards the exit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, here is the start of Ryder’s journey in Andromeda. The path she walks is a hard and dangerous one. Even though right now, she doesn’t want the job, she would eventually grow into the role. If you’re keen for more of Ryder, check out the series [Trials of Ryder](https://archiveofourown.org/series/792867). I have stories that traces her childhood, her time in the Alliance before she left for Andromeda, her journey as Pathfinder and beyond. I have lots of plan for Ryder so hang on for the ride!
> 
> Hit me up on my [Tumblr](https://natsora.tumblr.com/). Kudos and comments are always welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on my [Tumblr](https://natsora.tumblr.com/). Kudos and comments are always welcome!


End file.
